Alright sat down with it tonight and the lyrics on Genius and I got some thoughts to get out. I think the most prescient thing of this album comes from an interview Kendrick gave in the lead up, a fair way out, where he said that he'd done the abstract, socially conscious thing and now felt compelled to bring it back to a community level and I think DAMN. really reflects that. It's a very, very consistent record, and for me, unfortunately it falls comfortably below To Pimp a Butterfly. Both lyrically and musically I don't think it's as engaging as TPAB.
But I understand that it's not made for me, at all. So I've got to take this record, this new album by one of my absolute favourite artists, on face value. That's the challenge as a privileged white (and Australian) man who is a million, million miles away from this album's concept and feel.
But it's interesting... TPAB will be an all-timer for me forever, but I very rarely listen to gkmc, which is strange, because it's a fucking brilliant album. Anyway. That might just be cos there's lots of music out there. Who knows.
My Rushmore from this album is Pride / Lust / XXX / Feel. I fucking adore Pride. Steve Lacy, a black producer, provides those sensational intro vocals, which lead into that clipped guitar, which looks like it's original - I can't find any info on samples for it. (Genius has Pink Floyd's Echoes listed, which surely can't be true.) Lust could literally slot onto the back half of André 3000's The Love Below - the pitch-shifted vocals and the beat are straight out of that playbook, seriously nearly every second is akin to that record. XXXX is tremendous and Feel is one of the best downtrodden hip-hop tracks ever written, up there with Real Friends, Can it Be All So Simple and every song on ATLiens.
Other random thoughts cos I need to go to bed:
- Loyalty, Love and God could all easily be hit singles. Amazing that on a record as inward as DAMN. there's five songs that have a wide appeal.
- The Duckworth story is fucking nuts
- Humble is still the worst song on the album, though it's still a banger. But I'm upset cos Pride --> Lust would have been phenomenal and Humble really fucks the flow.
- Fear is probably the album's best song from a lyrical point of view.